Quote from: t4n0n on June 03, 2025, 13:03:24The latency improvements shouldn't require new hardware terminals, as it's implied that the improvement is coming from the physically lower altitude of the satellites, as well as increasing use of the laser links between the satellites themselves, resulting in less propagation time for transmitted signals.

Increased bandwidth may require upgraded user terminals, depending on whether the upgraded satellites allow for even higher levels of transmission modulation (apparently the existing terminals have AESA arrays with between 1200-3000 elements already!)

I'm new to Starlink (got it recently for my other location because it's more convenient there than fiber) and I'm still lacking some knowledge in that aspect, so thank you t4n0n for the answer with the info, much appreciated! 🙏

Quote from: Worgarthe on June 02, 2025, 13:07:28So, does that mean a free upgrade for existing users or there's a catch to buy new gear to "unlock" those benefits?

The latency improvements shouldn't require new hardware terminals, as it's implied that the improvement is coming from the physically lower altitude of the satellites, as well as increasing use of the laser links between the satellites themselves, resulting in less propagation time for transmitted signals.

Increased bandwidth may require upgraded user terminals, depending on whether the upgraded satellites allow for even higher levels of transmission modulation (apparently the existing terminals have AESA arrays with between 1200-3000 elements already!)

QuoteSince they will be brought up to a lower altitude of 350 km instead of the current 550 km orbit, the Starlink V3 satellites will be able to offer much lower latency of under 20 milliseconds, making it suitable for gaming. Musk then teased Diablo gameplay on Starlink while airborne, saying that the V3 satellite latency can even go down to 5 ms.

Besides the lower orbit, Starlink V3 satellites will bring faster Internet speeds and lower latency due to the fact that the laser beams that carry the packets of data travel 40% faster than fiber optics in vacuum.

Actually, the V3 satellite that is the size of a Boeing 737 when unfurled will bring 1 Tbps download speeds, or more than ten times what the current V2 generation offers. When it comes to uploads, the improvement will be even more drastic, with 24x the current speeds, or 160 Gbps.

So, does that mean a free upgrade for existing users or there's a catch to buy new gear to "unlock" those benefits? Lower latency mainly is what I'm most interested about as speeds are already excellent, although ping currently is perfectly fine and far superior to 4G or 5G, but obviously some 50% worse than fiber.

To put it into perspective, in CS2 I'm getting 28 ms EU Central and 31 ms Luxembourg with my fiber, but 41 ms EU Central and 46 ms Luxembourg with Starlink (Standard kit). Absolutely playable and no issues of any kind, but to get a free upgrade with no need to get a new kit would be pretty damn sweet though.

Quote from: Randy Hill on June 02, 2025, 00:50:16It's pretty incredible to see the progression in Starlink satellites from the original dinky versions, up to the current much larger (even the minis) versions to the v3 monster. When it comes down to it, launch costs have plummeted so far that it makes sense to pack as much capability into each one given the limits on numbers you can deploy.

The issue is likely not the limit of numbers you can deploy but increased energy requirements. Most of that size is solar panels.

It's pretty incredible to see the progression in Starlink satellites from the original dinky versions, up to the current much larger (even the minis) versions to the v3 monster. When it comes down to it, launch costs have plummeted so far that it makes sense to pack as much capability into each one given the limits on numbers you can deploy.